A Lover's Game
by xx you don't know me xx
Summary: Love was just a game right? A test to distinguish the weak from the strong. At least, that was what Max had always believed. And unless it was proven otherwise, she would always believe that. I mean, life isn't a fairy tale. Not some movie with the predictable happy ending. This was reality. Suddenly, reality was about to become a lot more interesting.
1. Chapter 1

_**Fang P.O.V**_

"All I'm saying is that I don't agree with this interpretation of 'love'. The way this poem represents it is as all smiles, sunshine and rainbows. Not reality. Take the work we did on _**'An Inspector Calls'**_. Back then, it was the done thing for men to be unfaithful and people were so quick to forgive them of their infidelities _because_ of it. Even now, when we know it's wrong, we still do it." I turned my head slightly to face the opinionated voice. The girl had a shy expression imprinted on her face and a blush building in her cheeks. I had never really noticed her before, but man if her argument hadn't caught my attention.

"Thank you Miss Ride. You may sit down now…please." Mrs Jacobs our English Lit teacher practically begged the girl. What was her name again? Maddie? Maya? I knew it began with a '_M'._

"That was awesome Max!" the girl's friend whispered excitedly.

Max! That was it.

There had never been anything remotely special about her. She was always quiet in lessons and seemed pretty much invisible. She blended in with the crowd. Although, that could be because I'm at a school with over 1000 students where the teachers one aim is to take away our individuality with the stupid idea of a school uniform. Not that I'm hostile or anything. So yeah, we all sort of just blended in here, at Itex Upper School. I mean, you obviously get the people who did stand out. It was kind of impossible NOT to notice them. Take Lissa Kennet. The tall, slim, red haired, green eyed beauty of our school. I didn't like that girl. It wasn't that she was your average popular bitch or anything, in fact, she was actually a really sweet girl. Which was precisely why I didn't like her. She made it impossible to hate her. I know, I know, contradiction of the century Fang. But seriously, in a town like this, where everything was boring and dull, and I couldn't wait to get out, I couldn't afford to be wasting time on things like more friends to miss when I finally leave this place. It would be hard enough to say goodbye to the one friend I do have. Because let me tell you now, once I leave Redstone Lodge, I would never come back. I hated this town with a passion. All it had done was prepare me for… nothing. Nothing was ever achieved here, the people in general, weren't that great and I had nothing holding me back. No family to tell me no. After all, the only family I had ever known was my little sister Angel and I hadn't seen her since I was thirteen. We had never known our parents and I didn't really care to. If I didn't know them, I had nothing to miss right? And I had kind of given up on the hopes of finding Angel again. We had grown up as foster kids and had been separated when she was three. Don't let the name fool you though. No seriously, what in the name of fuck were our estranged parents thinking? So anyway, after I had finally come to the heart wrenching conclusion that I would probably never see my baby sister again, I had been carted off to some foster family where all they cared about was good grades and money. Great foundations for a loving family right? Which brings me to another point about this town. Everybody was the same. The girls here were mostly bitchy and had no self respect. All the guys cared about was getting into **_those _**girl's pants. And all the parent's were pushy, over demanding control freaks.

So yeah, in a town like this, it was impossible not to blend in. Which was why, when I first noticed this girl, challenging the teacher's opinion on our latest topic of poetry, you can imagine how surprised I was, to find myself wanting to know her.

Her dirty blonde hair didn't have that glimmering shine to it, nor did her chocolate brown eyes hold a sparkle. But looking at her now, in that moment – her hair tossed about her face in careless waves, her cheeks flushed with the adrenaline of the debate, her eyes certainly held a glimmer of something. Victory? Well anyway, looking at this girl who had always seemed so invisible, I had never felt as drawn to know somebody than today.

_Maximum Ride._ She had definitely caught my attention.

She caught my eye and glared, noticing my scrutinising look.

Well there goes my aching need to know her.

* * *

**Okay so this is just a random story I decided to try out. I need you guys to review for me and tell me what you think. It won't be updated that regularly to begin cause I still need to finish my latest story – not many more chapters to go now – so yeah, review and let me know what you all think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**So the response for this was actually good so I decided to be a nice little writer and update again. I'm in a good mood cause I finally got my haircut since the last time (which was for my birthday in April) so yay to that. Double yay points for me! :D**

**So the next few chapters are gonna be real short. And I mean reaaalllly short but that's just so you can all get a taster for how this story is gonna go and shit. So yeah.**

* * *

**Fang P.O.V**

"Okay class, off you go." Mrs Jacobs finally signalled the beginning of lunch and I grabbed my school bag, hurrying out the classroom and into the crowded corridor.

"So dude, I heard that you and Lissa hooked up at Dylan's party last Friday." And arm slung over my shoulder as my best mate Iggy acknowledged the fast spreading rumour. I sometimes wonder why rumours spread so fast. I seriously worry about my peer's futures if they have nothing better to do than meddle in other people's business. It does worry me knowing that one of these people I am forced to associate with, will one day be the prime minister of this country. So maybe that's pushing it a little far, but somebody's gotta do it right?

"No we did not Iggy…"

"Seriously Fang? I thought you would've at least kissed her! She's a total babe!"

I cleared my throat and pushed away from him, flicking my naturally black hair away from my face only for it to fall back over my left eye not a second later. "Not my type."

I walked into the cafeteria with Iggy following behind me, gawking at me mindlessly.

"You should close your mouth, you look like you're trying to catch flies…" He glares at my remark and pulls out a chair at one of the tables. The chair scraped as I pulled one out and sat down next to him, pulling out my lunch and taking a long gulp of orange juice before turning to look at Iggy. When I did, he was staring off at something in the distance, too focused on whatever it is to notice me stealing a handful of his cafeteria specialty chips. Have I mentioned that the food at this school is not the best?

I followed his gaze and my eyes landed on the girls from English class.

_Max_.

"You like her?" I questioned Iggy as I nudged him.

He mumbled back almost incoherently, eyes still glued to the girls sitting two tables away from us. I watched on as Max's friend talked animatedly to her, whilst Max picked at a piece of chicken from a sandwich miserably. "Who?"

"Max." I replied.

Astonished, he turned to face me. "What no! She scares me."

"Scares you!" I spluttered, trying not to laugh. The thought itself was amusing. Whilst Max might be tall for her age, there was nothing remotely intimidating about her. Unless you count a glare colder than this town in winter. And let me tell you, that's pretty fucking cold. Iggy was much taller than her and he had lots of muscle from when he had gone on a fitness craze. That lasted about a week. He cracked by the end of the week and I had entered his bedroom to find him stuffing his face with endless amounts of toffee and chocolate whilst watching a marathon of _friends_.

He glared at me fiercely. "Yes. She's mean and she scares me. She threatened to castrate me all because I stole her paintbrush in art."

I chuckled. "What did you do?"

He glared again. "Well obviously I gave it back. That body part is way too important to me. Plus, the chicks love it…" He winked at gestured around the room at all the girls eating their lunch.

"Iggy, I hate to break it to you… but you're still a virgin."

He pressed a finger against his lips, drawn tightly shut. "Shhhh!" He hissed, "They must never know!"

I ignored him and followed his gaze once more. "So what, you like the friend?"

"_Monique…_" He corrected me, smiling slightly as he watched her wave her arms around in a drastic gesture. He wiped his hands on his school trousers and spoke up again. "Her name's Monique. She's in my psychology class…"

"So?"

"So what?"

"So… just ask the girl out."

Iggy turned to me, then to Monique, then back to me. "Are you insane?"

"Probably."

He ignored my jab and continued to stare at Monique. "She's so pretty. Look at her."

"I have."

"No Fang. No look at her."

"I am…"

"No Fang! I mean, really look at her. Really, really look at her."

"I have." I ground out through gritted teeth. "And right now you're acting like a love sick puppy. . . Ask her out."

"But she'll say no."

"She won't. She's been watching you all lunch."

"Yes she will Fang. I know it." Iggy whined.

"Ask her out." This guy was seriously trying my patience.

He opened his mouth to object again and I smacked my hand on the table.

"Now." My teeth were grinding against each other as I tried to keep hold of the last trace of patience. See, this is another reason as to why I don't have more friends. If they were anything like Iggy, they'd be dead within minutes. It's a wonder Iggy's lasted this long in my company.

He wiped his sweaty hands on his trousers again, chewed his lip nervously and stood up, marching over to the table.

I could vaguely see the girl – Monique- glance up at a nervous Iggy. They conversed and a shy grin spread across her face. She raised a caramel coloured hand and tugged at a loose ringlet anxiously. Tuning them out, I picked at Iggy's chips and waited.

A hand slammed down on the table causing me to knock my bottle of juice all over the table.

I glanced up angrily to see Iggy grinning ecstatically at me.

"Dude… she said yes."

"That's great."

"I told you she'd say yes. I told you!" he exclaimed.

I opened my mouth to object before settling for a quick, "Whatever Ig, whatever. Now hand me some napkins." He hurried off gleefully and came back a minute later carrying an armful of napkins. He dropped them on the table and swished them about before plopping back down in his seat.

And that's how I spent the rest of lunch, listening to Iggy chatter about Monique whilst I picked at my food, preparing myself for the next hour of torture: math class.

* * *

**So review and let me know what you think. A quick thanks to my reviewers, followers and one favourite so far. You guys are awesome.**

**Laters chickadees :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Max P.O.V**

"I'm telling you Nudge, I'm right."

"No. you're cynical. Big difference." Nudge glared at me as my elbow made contact with her side.

"I'm right. Love never lasts. It's a fact. This isn't some fairy tale or whatever. This is reality." Nudge glanced over at me as we made our way to the cafeteria. The look on her face was adamant and she had a determined glint in her eyes.

"Why can't you just accept, Max, that sometimes, you're wrong. Not every relationship is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, as you so delicately put it."

"Because Nudge, some of us are realists and some of us are idealists." I gave her a pointed look on the word idealists and she glared at me, knowing my usual rant was going to help me win this one. Again. "And I, just so happen to be a realist. You, my dear friend, choose to live in La la land pretending that everything is rainbows and unicorns so that you don't have to deal with the disappointment of reality and all that comes with it. I however, can deal with the crap. I've grown up dealing with the crap."

Nudge opened her mouth to object before I cut in again. "And don't go saying that we all have shit in our lives. Trust me, I know. But some are just better at accepting it than others. I can accept the fact that for the most part, reality sucks. Look at it this way," I began, my tone taking on a soft sigh as I noticed the look on her face. "At least now, knowing that reality stinks, I can appreciate the good moments a hell of a lot more."

She remained silent as she searched her brain for any argument to my rant. This was the way it usually went. I would spew off a load of shit, being my usual cynical self –which of course, I refused to admit – and Nudge would rummage through her brain trying to come up with a valid argument. And so far, she hadn't succeeded. We had had this debate many times.

And I always won.

I smirked at her and pulled open the door to the cafeteria, groaning inwardly at the sight of all the students milling about, searching for seats to sit in. Nudge simply huffed at me as I held the door open for her, gesturing for me to hurry up. "Come on Max. All the good seats will be gone soon."

"It's lunch Nudge, not the premiere of some Channing Tatum movie. Chill." Nudge adored Channing Tatum. I had once caught her confessing her undying love to a cardboard cut-out of him. I was a good friend though, I kept quiet about the whole thing. A little tip though for future reference: chocolate chip cookies work wonders as a bribe for me. Nudge gave me a month's supply to keep my mouth shut about the whole love confession thing.

"Hurry." Nudge murmured urgently, making a beeline for a table in the middle of the room. People were rushing about trying to find a free chair. You know, something about this reminded me of feeding time at the zoo…

"Jeez, I didn't know lunch required first class seating…"

Another huff from Nudge before we finally reached the table and sat down.

"So I'm thinking sleepover at my house tonight. I could give you a much needed pedicure…" Nudge trailed off, looking at my dirty nails distastefully as I picked at my chicken sandwich in disgust. I mean seriously, has this school ever heard of butter?

I glanced up and spoke around a mouthful of chicken. "I'm thinking not…"

Nudge groaned at me before taking a sip of water. "But Max! It's Friday. Nudge, plus Max, plus movies, plus boy gossip equals… a really awesome night!"

"I don't need to gossip about boys. They're not interested and neither am I. Besides, I promised Mum I'd babysit Ari tonight…you know how it is."

Nudge stopped spinning the cap of her water bottle on the table to look at me. I shrank back slightly in my seat as her eyes bored into my skin, starting with my face and travelling over my body to end where they started. She pulled on my school shirt a little bit, which was done up almost all the way to the top, sparing one button. Not like all the other girls at this school. They liked to leave at least half their shirts undone… okay so maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But still, there is such a thing called modesty.

"Maybe if you showed a little cleavage… And actually did something with your hair for once instead of keeping it down in those messy waves…"

"You know, I suddenly feel as though I'm in one of those self-help ads, only with less help and more bitch." Nudge thwacked me on the arm and gave my hair one last gentle tug before staring off into space just ahead of her.

I turned my head and followed her gaze. My eyes landed on none other than the guy from English, sitting next to another guy, with strawberry blonde hair and was gesturing wildly to his friend. I recognised him from my art class. They called him Iggy. I think it was because he once blew up the chemistry lab using a flask of ethanol and a Bunsen burner. Forget pyromaniac. That kid was a **_pyro genius. _**I wracked my brain, trying to remember the other guy's name. What was it? Mrs Jacobs had literally said it like, fifteen minutes ago. I watched as he raised an olive hand and grabbed a handful of chips from where the plate sat in front of Iggy. He shook his head at something Iggy said and I noticed the way his raven black hair fell just over his left eye. From the way I was sitting, I had the perfect view of his face. Let me tell you now, I wasn't complaining. Whilst I wasn't exactly interested in guys, it didn't hurt to admire them. Especially if said guy, resembles that of a Greek god!

And now I'm going to stop thinking such thoughts and keep at least a fraction of my dignity intact…

"Ahhh…" I began, "I know why you wanted to sit here." Nudge's head twisted quickly to look at me.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" She mumbled before taking another sip of water.

The look on my face was indignant as I opened my mouth to object. "You like him. You like the pyro." And then it really hit me. Nudge, my best friend, had a crush on Iggy, the schools, can we say, maniac? With a groan and a mental face palm, I practically wailed my next question. "Whhhyyyy?"

Another glare from Nudge shut me up and she looked as if she was about to argue her reason when the sound of a throat being cleared knocked us from our locked stares.

"Ummm, Monique? Hi…" Nudge swung her head sideways to look at the guy and I watched as her eyes grew wide and she tried subtly to smooth down her hair.

"Hey, Iggy right?" I scoffed at her pretences but she ignored me.

"Ummm, yeah. So I was wondering if… umm, if maybe you'd wanna go out with me sometime?" His voice trailed off an octave higher than I had ever heard and I looked down at my food feeling awkward.

I vaguely heard Nudge agree happily. "Yeah, yeah sure. Here I'll give you my number. When were you thinking?"

"Is tomorrow okay? We could go to the movies and… ummm… yeah…" I looked up to see Nudge grinning shyly and I couldn't help the small smile that had spread across my face. They were just so cute.

"Sure, tomorrow's great. Meet you at the movies at eight? Oh and by the way, everybody calls me Nudge." She said brightly, her smile reaching her ears. Iggy murmured a quick okay and left to go back to his mate with a grin.

I poked Nudge in the side with my elbow. When she snapped out of her Iggy induced trance, she turned to look at me quickly. "What?"

"You got a date. With the pyro…" I said with a smirk.

Needless to say, I spent the rest of lunch trying to make sure Nudge's excited squeal hadn't permanently damaged my hearing.

* * *

**So naturally, this is just the same scene as before, just in Max's point of view. Review my lovely chickadees. I'll update faster, promise :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Fang P.O.V _**

"Hey Fang!" Ella murmured without looking up from the table, too engrossed in her latest edition of _whatever_ book it was _this_ time.

"Hey Ells, watch 'ya reading this time?" I wandered over to the table and threw my school bag down on the wooden surface. Ella flinched slightly and I gave her an apologetic look.

She grinned at me and put her index finger in between the pages of her book. "Pride and Prejudice." Her chestnut brown hair fell in front of her eyes and she blew it out of the way before replacing her finger with a bookmark.

"Didn't you read that last month?" I asked her, genuinely amused. This girl just _never _stopped reading. She gave me an embarrassed smile and subconsciously fingered the old cover of the Jane Austin book.

"It's just so good! I love the relationship between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth! One day, I'm going to find love like that and –"Ella cut off quickly, seemingly having just realised that she was talking to _me. _"Anyway, I think Anne wanted to see you in the kitchen…"

I groaned internally and made my way into the kitchen while my foster sister went back to reading. When I entered the kitchen, the scent of chocolate chip cookies filled my senses. My eyes caught the plate of steaming cookies on the table and I grabbed one before turning to Anne, who was standing by the cooker chopping up a carrot for tonight's dinner.

"You wanted to see me?" She whirled around at the sound of my voice and smiled.

"I got a call from Mr Ashworth today. He said that he was a little worried about the quality of your school work."

I wasn't surprised. I had known that eventually this would happen. "Oh?"

"Nick, he said you got a D in your Chemistry test." Anne's expression was that of disappointment and I knew what was coming next. "You're failing chemistry! Then he said that your previous essay in English was a C-! What am I going to tell the girls when we have lunch next Tuesday? Marie's son is getting a B in Chemistry! Valencia's girl is an A* in English! What am I going to say? Well, if you were trying to humiliate me in front of all my friends then congratulations Nick, you have succeeded. I mean, I just don't understand this need to hurt me. I give you a nice home and I take care of you and what do I get in return? All you ever seem to do is humiliate me! And what's your father going to say?"

I flinched slightly at her rant. No matter how used to it I was, it still hurt a little every time I heard it. "He's not my father. And you're not my mother. I'm sorry that I'm such a huge disappointment to you both. You know what? If I'm that 'difficult' then why foster me in the first place?"

Anne sighed and looked away, hurt. "You know Nick, sometimes I wish you were a little more like your other siblings."

And there it was. The punch line that I had been waiting for. It always happened like this. Anne would lecture me about my bad grades, I would flip out and over react then she would just get that hurt look on her face and tell me about how much I disappoint her. Usually around this time, I would storm off and act all brooding teenager in my room.

"Whatever." I mumbled before throwing my half eaten cookie on the table and walking out of the kitchen.

"You okay?" Ella mumbled as I walked through the living room.

I grunted and carried on walking out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom.

The door slammed against the wall as I yanked it open and pulled it shut again. I was beyond pissed. I kicked my shoes off and pulled off my uniform, glad to be rid of it. Grabbing the first pair of black jeans from my laundry pile, I groaned and dressed in my preferred choice of clothing; black jeans and a matching black fitted t-shirt. Anger took over me as I replayed Anne's words.

**_All you ever do is humiliate me._**

**_I wish you were more like your siblings._**

I yelled in frustration and punched the wall with my fist. Eventually I grew tired and my hand began to hurt from the contact with the hard surface so I settled for lying on my bed in silence. I seriously needed a break.

* * *

A little while later, I heard a creaking sound and opened my eyes to find a frightened boy standing in the threshold of the doorway.

"Fang?" The blonde boy mumbled. I sat up and motioned for my younger foster brother to come in.

"Hey Gaz. What's up?" He sat on my bed and I checked my phone for the time.

**_8:30. _**I had been in my room for four hours.

"I heard what mum said to you. Dad's pretty angry right now."

I huffed and laid back on the bed. Gazzy followed my lead. "Let him be angry."

"I'm sorry Fang. She shouldn't have said that… I don't wish you were like anyone else."

I chuckled slightly. As much as Gazzy liked to act tough as nails, he was still a kid. A naïve little kid who didn't understand exactly how the world worked yet.

"You'll understand when you're a little older Gaz."

He looked indifferent. "I'm eight. Not a baby. I do understand. And I understand that Mum didn't really mean that. She just gets upset sometimes because you don't do your best in school. She gets upset with me too sometimes. Like when I ate the last slice of pizza last week and she had to buy more cause it was for all of our tea. She was pretty upset then…" I smiled at his rambling and closed my eyes again.

"Sure Gaz. Thanks buddy."

"No problem. I have to go and finish my science homework. Will you help me?"

I opened my eyes again. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm getting a D in chemistry. That also classifies as science doofus." He punched my arm and smiled.

"Please! I just don't get how the heart can pump blood everywhere in your body!"

I chuckled and he ran out of my room. Not a second later, he was back sitting on my bed with a work book in between us.

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, just a little insight into Fang's home life. I should be updating more now cause I'm free from school for two whole weeks. Yay to that1 so yeah, review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, so I just had my family over for Boxing Day and I am officially exhausted. I decided, whilst it's nice and quiet now, I would update. I've noticed I'm not getting as many reviews and I really need to know what you guys think of the story so far. So review and let me know what you want to see happen. Constructive criticism is always accepted.**

* * *

**_Max P.O.V _**

"Hey Nudge, wanna hear a joke?" My little brother Ari asked as he grinned up at Nudge from his place on the floor by the couch.

"Sure thing sweetie." Nudge replied with a grin and ruffled his hair, shifting her feet up to curl onto the couch.

"What's Postman Pat without his post?" Ari grinned mischievously as I sat next to Nudge.

"I don't know Ari, what_ is_ Postman Pat without his post?"

"Pat!" Ari exclaimed, laughing hysterically. Nudge chuckled at his joke whilst I just sat there, completely baffled.

Oh the humour of my seven year old brother.

"Okay, on a completely unrelated topic, what do you want for dinner Ari? Mum's working late tonight so I'm in charge."

Ari moved to sit in between Nudge and I. "Okay Max! Can we have Macaroni cheese for dinner?"

I pulled a disgusted face at Ari's decision. "You know I hat mac and cheese."

Ari smiled sweetly at me and his eyes went wide. "Please Maxi! It's my favourite!" I ruffled his hair and chuckled.

"Fine. But only this once. Next time we get to have pizza." Ari grinned and hugged me tightly.

"Thanks Max!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever _brat._"

Nudge slapped my arm and laughed. "So, macaroni cheese?"

"Come on then Ari." I pulled Ari up from his space in front of the T.V and Nudge followed us into the kitchen. Ari pulled Nudge in by her hand and opened the cupboard to pull out a box of Macaroni cheese.

"Max, can you cut up little sausages with mine?" Ari had loved this meal since I can't even remember. Mum used to cut up pieces of hot dog sausages into the mac and cheese to try and get us to eat it. I guess it worked for Ari, me not so much. I nodded to Ari and tipped the entire contents of the packet into a bowl. I passed the bowl to Nudge, who passed it to Ari and he put it in the microwave. Nudge smiled as he reached up to her gestured to the worktop.

"You know you're getting too big for this sweetie." Nudge cooed to my little brother. She didn't have any siblings of her own and had known Ari since he was a baby.

Ari pouted. "But not too big for you to call me sweetie…" He smirked as Nudge picked him up and plonked him down on the counter, swiftly moving a bottle of orange squash out of the way before Ari knocked it off. "Maxi?"

"Yeah…" I mumbled as I checked the mac and cheese. I looked over at Ari who was idly kicking his legs back and forth, hitting the fridge on every downfall of his legs.

"Can I have some juice?" His grin was way too sweet. _Sickeningly_ so.

"Anything else _your lordship_?" I mocked. He pouted again, at the use of my nickname for him. He was the youngest of the Ride offspring, with only me to compete with for attention. Not that I cared much for attention. He was my mum's baby. Spoilt, little baby. Although, he may have been spoilt by my terms, but I loved him so much it hurt. I had always been overprotective of my little brother, he didn't exactly have a father figure around. That's right. In this house, it was me, mum and Ari. Which made us kind of outcasts in Redstone Lodge. Well, not exactly outcasts, but in a town like this, it definitely _was not_ mainstream to be a one parent family.

"Don't forget the sausages." Ari kicked the fridge particularly hard and Nudge flinched at the sound. She ruffled Ari's fair brown hair and he leant into her hand. Ari adored Nudge.

"I know, I know." I huffed. Nudge glanced up at me and pulled away from Ari, sniffing the air.

"Do you smell that?" Ari poked his nose up into the air and copied Nudge. His face twisted into a disgusted frown.

"It smells like… like…"

"Like burning…" Nudge finished. We all looked towards the microwave and Nudge's eyes grew wide.

"Shit!" I exclaimed as I switched off the microwave and pulled out the steaming bowl of what used to be macaroni cheese. The entire kitchen _stunk_ of burnt cheese and there was a large brown _crust _on the pasta. The cheese was bubbling like a volcano ready to erupt.

"So," I began as I cleaned out the microwave, where cheese sauce had spilt over the top of the bowl, "Who wants pizza?" Nudge and Ari both raised their hands and Nudge threw the house phone to me.

See _this _is precisely why I don't cook.

* * *

After an eventful evening of scoffing all the domino's pizza we could, Ari, Nudge and I all settled down in our pyjamas to watch endless _Batman _movies: Ari's favourite. _Surprise, surprise._ Ari had convinced us to pile all of our blankets and duvets into the lounge where we had set them all up on the floor. I laid on the outside with Ari snuggled in next to me. Then Nudge settled in next to Ari. The excitement of his day had worn Ari out and he had fallen asleep at around nine, head laid in my lap and feet sprawled across Nudge. I leant down to kiss his forehead gently and let myself succumb to the pull of _sleep_. Wonderful sleep.

* * *

**So that was not where I wanted to finish it but hey, mum's making me go to bed cause it's nearly eleven. So I wish you all a slightly kinda late merry Christmas. I hope you all got everything you wanted. I'm happy cause I got some more converse, so woohoo to that.**

**Anyway, don't forget to review and tell me what you think and would like to see.**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Fang P.O.V**_

"What do I wear?" Iggy's voice was way too cheery for six o'clock on a Saturday morning. I groaned and rolled over in bed, wincing as my movement pushed my phone harder into my ear and Iggy's excited **_squeal_** that came with it. I know, I really do. I sometimes wonder if he's a girl in disguise too.

"I don't know Iggy. Whatever you feel like wearing." Why, just why, was I stupid enough to answer the phone at six in the morning? Everybody knows that you never answer the phone this early. It's always bad news. Or in my case just my stupid best friend having a crisis. If I had ignored it, and just switched my phone off, I would be asleep right now.

_Nice one Fang._

Iggy let out a disappointed moan. "No Fang. You don't understand! I don't know what I feel like wearing! What would Nudge want me to wear?" I groaned again and ran a hand through my black hair.

"Dude, as long as you're wearing clothes I'm sure _**Nudge** _will be fine."

"Well darn Fang. Cause y'know I was planning on turning up in my _Calvins…" _Iggy remarked sarcastically.

"And I officially know more about my best friend's choice in underwear than I ever intended to…" I mused, pulling my duvet up to cover my bare shoulders. It was winter here and as I'm sure I've said before, winter in Redstone Lodge is pretty damned cold.

"Fang!" Iggy exclaimed, frustrated. "Be serious for one second. That's all I ask."

"Y'know Ig, I would probably be more serious, was it not six o' freaking clock in the morning. Just saying… And anyway, shouldn't it be Nudge stressing out about this sort of thing?"

"Fang!" My phone slipped out of my hand as I recoiled away from it in surprise at Iggy's hoarse yell. I fumbled under my duvet looking for it but the lack of sunlight at this ungodly hour made it all the more difficult. I shifted over to the right side of my double bed, but my foot got tangled in the sheets that had been pulled loose from my search for the phone. Eventually, after much frustrated yells and tugging the remaining corner of sheet off my bed, resulting in it rolling straight off and onto the hard wooden floors of my bedroom, I found my phone tucked safely in a little crease at the edge of my bed, right where my mattress met the wall, sparing a tiny gap. I reached for it, extending my hand and folding it over the phone. Then, life decided it hadn't screwed me over enough to make up for the sixteen years I had been alive, and my index finger knocked the phone.

_Straight down the side of the bed._

I groaned in protest and self-pity, pondering my options.

Either get out of bed to retrieve my phone, and risk freezing my arse off in the process.

Or go back to sleep and ignore the fact that my best friend was having a serious 'issue'.

Eh, Iggy can wait.

* * *

**_Max P.O.V_**

"Max." I groaned and rolled over in my bed, burying my face in my pillow.

"Max." A feminine voice whispered to me.

"_Urrrnnnggg…."_

"Max…" The same voice repeated, annoyance obvious in the harsh tone. My arm moved of its own accord and smacked the hand that had been resting on my shoulder away.

_"Urrrnnnggg_…" I groaned again as the hand moved back to my shoulder, tapping continuously.

"Max!" The voice exclaimed. "Wake up!" The hand contacted my side particularly hard and sent me rolling off of the edge of my double bed, hitting the cold laminated flooring with a loud thud.

"Eurgh, Nudge! What the hell?" I moaned as I stood up, wincing at the sharp pain that ran through my left leg. Sometime last night, Mum had come home and moved a sleeping Ari into his bedroom and woken Nudge and I up in the process. It had taken us half an hour to put the move our covers and pillows back to my bedroom, simply because mum didn't want to be held responsible for Nudge and I waking up with stiff necks and bad backs.

Well, I can still hold her responsible for my sleep deprivation…

I grabbed my mobile phone from the dresser by my bed and checked the time.

"Nudge, would you care to explain why I am awake at half seven in the morning?" I glared at Nudge, who got up from her side of my bed, stretched her arms above her head and pulled her brown ringlets into a bun on top of her head. She smiled sheepishly at me.

"You need to help me prep for tonight." Nudge slipped out of her sponge bob pyjamas and pulled on a pair of leggings and a white jumper. "What do you think of this jumper? I got it on sale at New Look! Don't you just love New Look? I know I do, they have the cutest shoes! I mean honestly, shoe heaven! I brought this really cool pair of red pumps last week… I could wear those tonight. Ooh but what about my cute brown boots? Or my black heels. Or would that be too much? What do you-"

I slammed the door shut, effectively cutting Nudge off from her morning rant. Usually, that girl's a bitch to wake up. Like, I rarely risk the fatal injuries I would surely get from attempting to wake her up. Guess today's different.

Nudge poked her head out, pouting furiously. "Hey! I was talking to you!"

"Well," I began, "I'll listen if you limit yourself to 50 words per minute…" I grabbed a towel from the airing cupboard and pushed the bathroom door open. Nudge followed me and winced as the cold air hit her, hurrying to slam the window shut. Yeah, apparently my mum doesn't feel the cold…

"Can I help you?" I questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, you can actually!" Nudge exclaimed, shutting the bathroom door and motioning for me to carry on. "What the hell do I wear?"

I glanced at her and motioned for her to turn around. She sighed heavily as she turned. Goosebumps rose on my skin as I stripped myself of my baggy t- shirt and grey sweat pants. I stood in my underwear, hesitating before pulling the shower curtain across and stepping in. Nudge turned and looked at me, rolling her eyes.

"You're such a prude max. We're all girls here." I glared and pulled the shower curtain across, peeping my head round the curtain and making sure Nudge couldn't see me. She rolled her eyes again as my bra landed by her feet and my underwear on the step by the bath tub. "Such a prude…" she muttered.

* * *

"So, what do I do? My date with Iggy is tonight and I have no clue what I'm gonna do, or wear!" After I had been more of a hindrance than a help, Nudge had called in one of our friends, Ella.

My mum entered with a plate of chocolate chip cookies and three glasses of milk, I took the plate from her and she handed us each a glass. "Mmm, thanks Miss Martinez." Ella mumbled around a mouthful of cookie. My mum had never married my dad so she had always been Martinez. When they had me, I took my dad's last name. I guess I could never be bothered to change it to Martinez. Ari had grown up as a Martinez. No matter where I went, somebody always asked why I had a different last name to my mum and my brother.

Mum flicked a lock of brown hair over her tanned shoulder and smiled gently, wiping her hands on her blue apron. "No problem sweetheart. And how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Valencia." Mum's Hispanic accent was strong as she spoke.

Ella smiled and nodded agreement, tugging on her chestnut brown braid.

Mum spoke up again and I sipped my milk. "It's lovely to see you again Ella. How's your mother?"

Ella grimaced and frowned, pulling at her grey jumper. "Not great. Her and Fang had an argument yesterday…" Fang… why did I recognise that name so much. Yeah, I knew he was Ella's foster brother, but why did I feel as though I had met him before. I had only ever met Ella's foster mum, Anne.

Mum patted Ella's shoulder delicately. "He'll soon settle down. Just think how hard it was for you when they fostered you. It takes some getting used to right? Just give him some time, he's only been living with you for what, a year? That may seem like a long time but different people react differently to strange environments. Didn't you say this was his first real foster family? "

Ella nodded and smiled. "Yeah… Anyway, if he knew I was talking about him with you, or anyone, he'd kill me."

Mum nodded in understanding. She was a vet here in Redstone Lodge and had become fast friends with Ella's foster mum, Anne Walker. Anne pretty much told her everything about her kids. She could never have children of her own so she had settled for fostering. I didn't really like her though. She was exactly like all the other mums here, excluding my own. All she cared about was good grades and reputation. That was why Ella was so studious. She had this gripping fear that if she didn't succeed in her exams and get good grades, she would be sent back into the system, back to that care home she had lived in for seven years of her life.

And she didn't exactly have it easy in that home.

Mum slipped out of the door of the living room and Ella turned to Nudge in haste. "Okay, so you're going to the movies yeah?" Nudge nodded, grinning ecstatically.

Ella smiled and took another bite of cookie. "So, I'm thinking you wear your blue denim skinnies and that cute blue, floaty top. Y'know, the one with the halter neck that flows down at the bottom. Oooh and your black ankle boots! You'll have Iggy wrapped around your little finger." Nudge grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"Cool, awesome choice… Can we watch a movie now? I'm thinking we should watch The Realm…" I mused, picking up my third cookie.

Nudge glared at me. "I am not watching anymore horror movies with you Max. Not after last time!"

"It was just a little popcorn!" I protested.

Nudge glowered at me and slapped my arm. "It was covered in toffee sauce. I kept finding pieces of popcorn stuck in my hair afterwards. I had to wear a hat for a whole week!"

A few months ago, I had talked Nudge into watching some horror movie with me. She had been eating a bowl of popcorn at a particularly**_ jumpy_** moment and had thrown the popcorn all over herself as a result of her shock. She vowed to never watch a horror movie with me again after that.

I glanced at Nudge, eyes wide and hands clasped in front of me. "Please Nudge, you know I hate watching all your sappy Romance films… Please." Nudge sighed and threw herself onto the couch.

_"Fine…"_

* * *

**So I'm gonna end it there for today.**

**Question for you all, do you want me to include Nudge and Iggy's date in the next chapter?**

**Review and let me know what else you would like to see. If I can incorporate your ideas, I will and will give you full credit**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, so we're really slipping on the review front, let's try get to 25 today. Only 4 more to go okay. So I asked you guys whether or not you wanted to read Nudge and Iggy's date but only one of you actually answered that question. So thanks to the guest that reviewed to that.**

**So on a totally unrelated topic, I have a confession: I am possibly, the clumsiest, ditsiest person that ever lived. I was sitting on my couch today being totally lazy and procrastinating on my English paper, when I literally just fell off. There was nothing to actually make me fall, nothing. I just fell. Like, one second I'm sitting, the next I'm lying face down on my living room floor. And that's not even the worst part. Apparently, I'm special enough to fall on carpet and actually cut my hand on a tiny shard of glass that was hidden in said carpet. The same piece of glass stabbed my hand three times. You have all been warned. I think I should just be kept in quarantine for my own safety. And others… I'm not gonna lie, it does worry me knowing that I may one day have children and they may end up like me.**

**Anyway, now that I've bored you all with my rambling, I hope you enjoy this chapter. The fax, which I know you all want, will take a little while to actually happen, but bear with me. I promise there shall be fax. Eventually.**

* * *

**_Max P.O.V _**

"It was amazing! Oh Max he was so cute! He looked so good in those jeans though. Oooh and that shirt! Oh Max he's perfect! He was the perfect gentleman, he took me out to dinner after to this really sweet Italian restaurant and he paid for me too. That's sweet right? Oh he's so perfect!" Nudge exclaimed dramatically as she spun around in my bedroom at 8 O' clock on Sunday morning. Remind me why I'm awake this early again? She was wearing a black skirt that moved with her as she spun around excitedly, grinning wildly and clapping her hands. I wasn't even sure how she'd gotten in this morning. It was mum's day off so I assumed she would be sleeping in like usual.

"Shhh. You'll wake Mum and Ari. So I'm guessing you had a good time then?" I murmured, getting up out of my bed and dragging my feet outside past Nudge to the stairs. It took me every effort to keep my eyes open so as not to fall down the narrow steps. This has actually happened to me once, no lie. I was so tired, I closed my eyes for one second and slipped on the edge of the top stair. I literally went tumbling down and landed on my face in the hallway. The floor in that hallway was cold, hard tiles. No carpet or anything. Imagine my pain.

Nudge followed me into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. Mum was already awake and standing by the cooker, frying pan in hand as she skilfully flipped a pancake. She smiled at Nudge and I and placed a plate down in front of Nudge, who had taken a seat at our kitchen table.

"You know where the toppings are. There's more syrup in the cupboard since Max finished it up in her latest cooking experiment." Nudge made a face then grinned at my mum.

"Thanks Val!" Mum waved her hand in dismissal and handed me a plate with a pancake, drizzled in syrup and chocolate chips. So we have discovered, I like my sugar.

"Max, go and get your brother." She ordered as I sat down in my seat next to Nudge, taking a bite of delicious pancake goodness.

I glanced at my pancake and then at the stairs, in plain view through the open kitchen door. "But… but…"

Mum scowled at me. "Now. Your stomach can wait."

I groaned as I stood up and sloped upstairs into Ari's bedroom. The walls were painted a greeny colour and he had lots of posters of transformers pinned up. He was sprawled across his bed, one arm clinging onto his pillow, the other dangling over the edge of the bed. The duvet was bunched up at his shoulders, just touching the fair strands of his hair that rested on his neck. I smirked and gripped the Batman duvet gently, so as not to disturb him.

"Wake up!" I yelled as I yanked the duvet down and let it fall to the floor. Ari shot up and wrapped his arms around his knees, shivering at the sudden cold blast of air.

"Max!" He groaned. "What was that for?" He was really shivering now so I sat down next to him and rubbed his arms up and down. There was something about this kid that made it impossible to be horrible to him. Every time I tried, he always made me feel guilty.

"Mum wanted you to wake up. There's pancakes downstairs." As soon as the word pancakes had passed my lips, my little brother was up like a shot, running down the stairs in his pyjamas. I smiled and ran down the stairs too, feeling more awake now. What can I say? A little morning evilness just gets my spirits up…

"Ah, ah, ah. One at a time." Mum said as Ari and I reached for the pancakes. I had picked up at least three to put on my plate. I slowly put them back, but one, and grinned sheepishly at mum. She was not somebody you wanted to mess with.

"So Nudge, Max told me you had a date last night." Mum stated, sipping a mug of coffee. Yep, our family really loves our coffee.

Nudge nodded and carried on eating her breakfast. Why she had to come here just to eat I'll never know. We just had that kind of friendship. It was kind of comforting to know that we could just walk into the other's home like we owned the place. It made me feel as though there was at least one other place, besides home, where I belonged.

"Well… go on. How was it? What did you get up to? Did you kiss? Well, tell me!" So we've established that my mum is just a teenage girl when it comes to dating and boyfriends. I think she treats Nudge like her second daughter just because she can talk to Nudge about this sort of thing. You can guarantee if she tried it with me, it would just end in tears, particularly her own when I told her the reason I didn't date or, in fact, care to date. I didn't exactly trust men given the past nine years of my life had been spent without a dad. It had been his choice to leave, and he didn't seem to regret it. I hadn't heard from the man since. And I didn't _wan_t to hear from him.

Nudge sighed wistfully and twirled a piece of pancake on her fork. "Perfect. We went to the movies to watch that new Hunger games movie that I've been dying to see. Oh and then he took me to Bella's, that really nice Italian restaurant. Afterwards, he walked me home and kissed me! He was perfect!" Nudge babbled and mum squealed in excitement for my best friend. I tuned them out, chewing on my third pancake.

* * *

**_Fang P.O.V _**

"See you after school sweetie." Anne said through the window of her car when she dropped me off at school on Monday morning. After the incident on Friday with my grades, we, which means Anne and Chris (my foster dad), had decided that I would be tutored in English. Anne was going to ask one of her friends to get one of their A* kids to help me. Joy.

I grunted and walked off towards the main entrance of school, Ella following quickly behind me tugging on her black school skirt. She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and waved goodbye to me as she headed off to find some of her friends. Despite the fact that Ella read like _all _the time, and was the smartest kid I knew, she was really actually quite popular. She was the same age as me, 16, and was one of my _three_ foster siblings. She and I were the oldest, then there was JJ, fourteen, and Gazzy, eight. I know that I said that when I left this place I wouldn't have anything to miss. But thinking about it now, I would miss my brother and sisters. Just not my god awful foster parents.

I walked over to my locker, putting in the combination and throwing my books in there, sparing my Math book. I winced as I collided full on with Iggy, who had been running down the hallway like a maniac, and pushed him away from me. "What the hell Ig?"

He helped me pick up the books I had dropped and smiled at me. "It was brilliant Fang. Perfect! Great! Fantastic! Perfect! Awesome! Perfect! Amazing! Perfect! – "

I held up my hand to stop his rant. "Yeah, I get it. It was _perfect_. Now… _what_ was perfect?" Iggy glared at me and pulled off his coat.

"My date with Nudge. It was- "

"If you say it was perfect one more time, I will ram this book down your throat." I warned, threateningly calm. He scowled at me and I smirked. Great, now I was getting the silent treatment. "Come on dude, the silent treatment. What is this? Preschool?!"

He glared and walked ahead of me. "Fine. I'm not gonna be missing out by not hearing about your date." He turned his head to look at me slowly. His expression was one of concentration as he had the debate in his mind. Give up and talk to me, or keep all the details to himself. He chewed his lip and sighed.

"Fine. It was great though Fang. Really great. Perfect." I gave him a look and he clamped his mouth shut. "Sorry, but that's the only word I can think of to describe her. I really like her Fang." I smirked and clapped him on his back.

"Good for you." He grinned at me and ran off to his form room.

* * *

I sighed in relief as I finally got out of physics. Lunch time.

I was walking toward the cafeteria when two guys ambushed me. Dylan Harrison and Sam Cooper, the two most popular _jocks _of Itex high.

"Hey Walker, haven't seen you out on the pitch in a while." They were referring to my short lived high school fame, when I had been one of them. I had been on the schools' football team for about six months. But that was a long time ago, to me anyway, and I no longer considered them friends.

I shrugged and watched as Dylan leaned his head to the side, checking out some girl walking past us.

"So what have you been up to buddy?" Sam asked me and pulled out a bottle of Lucozade while he walked along side me.

I shrugged again. "Not much."

Dylan and Sam shared a look: _Who does this kid think he is?_

Despite me reluctance to converse with them, they powered through my stubborn demeanour and Dylan slung an arm over my shoulder. "So, we heard Iggy got a date… with that Monique girl…"

I shrugged again and moved Dylan's arm from my shoulder.

He wasn't disheartened and continued to talk. "About time you got yourself a girl too, right?"

Again, I shrugged. Sam glanced at Dylan and gave him a pointed look, motioning to a girl walking beside us, on the other side of the corridor. I checked out her waist length, wavy brown/blonde hair and confident walk. Her messenger bag was slung haphazardly over one shoulder and she kept tugging at her black school skirt, pulling it down so it didn't show too much skin, despite the fact that she was wearing knitted tights. I glanced downwards and remarked her black combat boots with a smirk. I recognised her instantly.

_Maximum Ride. _

Dylan nodded and checked her out as she picked up her pace, walking just ahead of us. Sam put his index finger and his thumb in his mouth and whistled.

_Wolf whistled._

Max turned her head apprehensively and Sam pointed to me. She glared at me in disgust and stalked off, but not before she gave me the finger.

I glared daggers at Sam and Dylan. "What. The. Fuck. Was. That?"

And oh, the irony of what happened next.

They shrugged at me and smirked.

"I thought if we got her attention, you'd take it from there. Instead of standing there gawking at her mindlessly. We thought she'd like you. You got all that mysterious stuff going on. Chicks dig that." Sam remarked confidently.

I glared at them and stalked off into the cafeteria.

I groaned at the sight.

Nudge and Iggy were sitting at a table, talking animatedly. And guess who was sitting with them.

_Maximum Ride. _

The girl who thought I had just _wolf whistled_ at her.

The girl who now thought I was a _perv._

_Fuck my life._

* * *

**So, Max and Fang aren't exactly off to a great start. But have no fear, Fax will come.**

**Don't forget to review. Come on guys, just four more. We can do it.**

**I'll update sometime next week, hopefully Monday cause after that I'm back at school. D:**


	8. Chapter 8

**_Fang P.O.V _**

Max glanced up at me and pulled a disgusted face when I sat down. Something was telling me this wasn't going to go well. She looked away from me and turned back to her lunch. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her playing with a small charm bracelet that hung loosely on her skinny left wrist.

Her fingers were pinching a small charm on the bracelet. I looked closely to see what it was; a silver heart with the word daughter engraved in the centre. It was simple, yet stunningly beautiful. It suited Max herself. Despite my growing uncertainty about her, I myself couldn't deny how beautiful this girl was. With her wavy dirty blonde hair and high cheekbones. Her brown eyes and the little button nose that sat on her slender, flawless face. My eyes subconsciously travelled down; glancing at her bare neck and small shoulders; past her torso to rest upon her slim waist that was being synched in by her school skirt; the curves that could drive a guy crazy and the long, slender legs that were stretched out ahead of her. She was a naturally attractive girl; even I couldn't deny it.

She caught my eye and glared at me, the disgusted expression firmly set on her face. I glanced away quickly and looked to Iggy and Nudge. They were holding hands under the table and Iggy was watching Nudge with a love-struck expression. I snorted and picked up my bottle of Dr Pepper; my absolute favourite. I spun the cap in-between my fingers out of sheer boredom.

"Did you hear about Lissa Kennet?" Nudge piped up, dropping Iggy's hand and whirling around to face Max. Cautiously, Max shook her head and spread her hands on the table.

"Apparently, her dad's making her move in with her mum cause she hooked up with you at Dylan's party." Nudge babbled looking over at me. I shook my head.

"Well that's bull. Cause we didn't hook up." Max scoffed and spoke around a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, cause we all know how much you respect girls." I glared at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" My hands were shaking with anger.

"You're such a sexist jerk. Whistling at me in the hallway and then feigning innocence. How pathetic."

"That wasn't even me."

It was no good trying to defend myself; she had already made up her mind about me. She had already formed her judgement on me, clear as day in her mind. She scoffed again.

"Please, don't patronise me. I do have half a brain _Nick_."

"It's Fang." I growled and took a gulp of my drink. Again, she scoffed at me and my glare darkened.

"You're just like the rest of them."

"Well you're hostile." I countered back.

Max's facial expression sent shivers down my spine. "And you're repugnant." She retorted angrily before scraping back her chair and stalking out of the cafeteria. Nudge stood up and looked at me apologetically.

"She has trust issues…" She murmured to Iggy and I before running after her stubborn friend. I glanced at Iggy in disbelief.

He was nervously spinning his drinks bottle on the table and gave me a sheepish smile. "Nudge is really her only true friend and I couldn't let her sit alone…"

I nodded and stood up stiffly. Anger was radiating from my body. What gave her the right to judge me? She didn't even know me! She didn't know anything about me and here she was calling me a sexist jerk. It was probably for the best anyway. At least it would make it easier to _not _like her. If she hated me, I could hate her back. Technically, if I hated her, I was protecting her. Protecting her from being dragged into all my family shit and personal issues.

It would be easier if we hated each other.

With an air of confidence, my thoughts finally in perspective, I left the cafeteria and went to spend the rest of my lunch avoiding the pointed stares from my peers. Stupid rumours.

* * *

**_Max P.O.V _**

"Y'know, you gotta stop doing that." Nudge remarked when she came to sit next to me, leaning up against the tree I was sitting under.

I scowled. "I don't like him."

She chuckled. "Why not?"

"Because."

She moved to put her arm around me. "Because?"

"Because he's a sexist jerk." Nudge chuckled again.

"He whistled at you. That's it. And he even said that it wasn't him. You wanna know what I think?"

"No." Despite my putting her down, Nudge powered on.

"I think that you act like you hate him, and any other guys, because you're afraid. Afraid of being let down. Think about it, the first man in your life walked out without so much as a goodbye, and hasn't contacted you since. You've lived without a manly figure in your life for seven years now. And you don't wanna get let down again. Admit it, deep, deep, deep, _deep _down, there's a little girl hiding under that shell. And she's afraid. And still hurting. The man she trusted the most left. And she thinks it's her fault." Wow, she had me. Nudge was like that though, it didn't surprise me. She could just read a person like that. I blamed it on her watching too many soap dramas and stuff.

So instead of admitting what I was too scared to say to myself, I shook my head at her. "Sorry to disappoint you, I'm just not that deep."

For the rest of the day, I avoided practically everyone. I was too mad too talk to anybody and too afraid that if I saw Nudge again, I would spill everything to her. About how I truly felt.

And I didn't ever spill my feelings.

**_Ever._**

* * *

"_Maxi!" _Ari yelled as soon as I walked in our front door after school. He ran out of the living room and I caught him in my arms and laughed.

"Hey sweetie. How was school?" He grinned at me when he pulled away.

"Great! I made a new friend!" As he said this, a small girl entered the hallway timidly. Her golden hair was styled in French braids and she was wearing a little blue pinafore dress. One white sock sat under her left knee, the other at her right ankle.

I smiled at her and she grinned angelically back. "This is my new friend Angel." Said Ari ecstatically.

* * *

**_Fang P.O.V _**

"So everybody, as of this evening, you're all going to have another foster sister. She's six years old, nearly seven, and very shy. Your father is picking her up from a friend's house now. We were supposed to be picking her up from the preschool here but the foster home she lived in previously said that they were friends with the mother of her new friend."

Anne had dragged me from my room for a family meeting. I was sitting on the arm of the couch next to Ella who had her head stuck in another book. This time it was some Nicholas Sparks novel.

Just as I was pondering over the new kid, the front door opened and in walked Chris, a small, shy girl following behind him. She was chewing on the ear of a little stuffed bear and holding onto Chris's hand as he pulled her into our living room.

"Kids, this is Angel. Angel, these are our other children; Nick, Ella and Zephyr." Zephyr was Gazzy's real name but after spending one hour alone in the same room as him, Ella and I had fittingly nicknamed him the gasman. I did a double take as I took in the little girl's appearance.

Her golden hair pulled into two small braids. Her rosy cheeks and bright blue eyes.

Hell if I didn't recognise those eyes.

Was it? But how? I thought that she had been taken from me for good.

But looking at the timid little girl, chewing on her stuffed toy's ear, I knew instantly.

My Angel was back.

I had my real sister back.

"Hey Angel, my name's Nick, but you can call me Fang." I crouched down and held out my hand. She reached out her tiny hand and took my own, shaking it gently. I smiled at her and she grinned back.

* * *

**So let's try reach maybe 30 reviews. Or at least over 25 this time. We're really slipping on reviews right now. So I'll update sometime again this week IF we can get more reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, so well done on the reviews! We're up to 28 now so thanks to all of you.**

* * *

**_Fang P.O.V_**

"Unnnggg!" When I walked into the kitchen on Saturday morning, Angel was pressed up against the counter, reaching for a bowl at the top of the cupboard.

"What's up short stop?" I mumbled, grabbing a mug and pouring some coffee from the pot. Angel leaned up again and groaned out of frustration.

"I can't reach the bowls." Her bottom lip jutted out and she reached up again. After a second of watching Angel struggle, I walked over to her in two short strides, leaned down to grasp her waist and swung her up. She grabbed the bowl she was after quickly and laughed as I placed her back on the floor. "Thanks Fang!" Angel exclaimed and hugged my legs. She only came up to my lower abdomen; she had always been a small kid. I smirked and sipped my coffee.

Angel eyed the mug in my hands curiously. "What's that?"

I watched her as she poured her cornflakes into the bowl and smiled. "Coffee."

She made a wondering face and stared at the mug. "What does it taste like?"

I placed my cup on the counter and looked my kid sister over. "It's good. Why? You wanna sip?"

Angel grinned at me and nodded. I put my cup to her lips and she placed her hand on the bottom, tipping it up gently. As the warm, bitter taste filled her mouth, she scrunched up her nose and pushed the cup away, coughing furiously. She stuck her tongue out and choked on the liquid. I ended up patting her on the back whilst she gasped.

"Aquired taste." I chuckled, rubbing her back as she recovered.

"Why do you drink that?" Angel questioned me whilst I poured her a glass of juice to rinse out the taste.

"I like it."

"What about orange juice? That tastes nicer than _that. _Can't you drink orange juice?" I chuckled at her innocent voice and wide blue eyes.

"I don't like orange juice Ange." She made a face at me and sat at the table with her cereal and juice.

I sat with her for a while, asking questions about her previous home and stuff. When I mentioned the foster home she had lived in for a year, Angel shut off and played with her, now soggy, cornflakes. She told me that all she remembered of her childhood was bouncing from care home to care home. Until, finally, the Walkers had fostered her. I wanted, so badly, to tell her. To tell my Angel that I was her brother. There were so many things I wanted to tell her. Sorry. For not taking better care of her. For letting them take her away from me so easily. I wanted her to remember the first three years of her life, when we had been together. Before we were taken away.

So when I said that I had grown up as a foster kid, maybe it was a slight stretch of the truth. In all honesty, I had spent the first 13 years of my life with my grandparents. But that's a story for later.

I looked over to the kitchen door when it swung open, knocking me out of my reverie. Angel had long gone, up to Ella's room, who had promised she would read to her.

Anne hurried in, filling the coffee pot and then sat at the table with me. I was helplessly gripping my third coffee, stealing any warmth from the ceramic mug that I could. Anne pulled on a pair of black heels to match her smart business skirt – suit and pulled her straightened hair over one shoulder.

"So Nick, I spoke to Valencia and she said her daughter Max would tutor you for English. And maybe Chemistry too."

I froze. "Max?" Please don't say it. Please don't say it.

Anne looked up at me and smiled. "Max Ride."

**_Well crap._**

* * *

Iggy leant his head back against the couch and tipped the bag of Doritos higher to his mouth. There was a loud slurping sound as he licked his fingers clean. He dipped his fingers in the bag of crisps again and pulled them out, the orange cheesy powder covering his fingers. Once again, he sucked on his fingers noisily. There was only so much I could take.

"Would you stop that?" Iggy looked up at me, finger poised near his open mouth.

"Stop what?"

I ground my teeth and tugged the packet of Doritos away from him. "You know what. Quit it."

He pouted and reached for the bag again.

"Nu-uh." I smirked and threw the packet in the bin. He was just like a little kid. He had wanted to come over to watch a game with me but honestly, my mind was elsewhere. I kept thinking about Max. She couldn't tutor me now. She couldn't. She'd kill me before she taught me anything of relevance. And Angel. How could I keep this a secret? How could I not tell her she was my baby sister?

What was I supposed to do? This was way too much stress for a sixteen year old guy. So I just sat with Iggy, pretending to enjoy myself.

After the game, Iggy told me he had plans with Nudge so I settled for hanging out with Ella for a bit. She needed help with her Spanish homework. How was it, I couldn't get my head around English, yet I could speak Spanish with little to no effort?

"Els, you need to conjugate the verb first. Hablar, to speak, needs to be in the fourth person. _We._ So?"

She looked up at me, her brown eyes wide. "So what?"

"What's your new verb?"

She chewed on her lip, thinking about it. "Errrm, _hablo?"_

I shook my head and she groaned, throwing her hands over her face. "I can't do it Fang. I just don't understand. I'm gonna fail! Anne and Chris are going to hate me!" Ella exclaimed, panic clouding her tone and building into hysteria. I rubbed her back and handed her the Spanish book I was holding.

"_Hablamos._ Hablo is referring to yourself. Try another one. Vivo. You plural."

She thought about it again.

"Use your verb table."

Ella picked up the book and studied her list of verbs. Her eyes widened and she glanced up at me, smiling. "Vivais." I grinned at her, proud to no end.

"Well done. Okay, now how do I say, I live in Redstone Lodge?"

Ella thought for a second. "Vivo en Redstone Lodge…?"

I grinned again and held out my hand for a high five. She smacked it awkwardly.

"Okay, that was just terrible. Again." She smacked my hand again and I smiled at her. "Well done Els. You're gonna be fine."

Ella's mouth spread into a grin and her eyes were literally gleaming with pride. "Thanks Fang! I really appreciate it."

"No problem." I shrugged and left her to her Spanish work.

* * *

The small sound of faint whimpers drifted through the thin walls to my bedroom. I sat up in bed to listen. It was coming from Ella's room, which she was sharing with Angel until we finished up Angel's own bedroom. My eyes protested to the sudden flash of light when I switched on the lamp sitting on my bedside table. I groaned and checked my phone for the time.

**_1:30 AM._**

Pushing my duvet off of me and shivering at the sudden blast of cold air, I swung my legs off the bed and stood up, throwing on a t-shirt over my black sweat pants. The sound of the whimpers grew stronger as I neared the simple, white oak door to Ella's bedroom. It creaked as I pushed it open and poked my head in. Ella was lying on her side, purple duvet covering her neatly followed by another blanket. I looked to the left corner of the room to see Angel; curled up in a ball on her plain white pillow; stuffed bear hugged to her chest tightly; shivering furiously in her little pink nightgown. Her eyes were squeezed shut so tightly there were little crinkles at the corners. Angel's brow was furrowed and I could just make out a few tears slipping down her young face. She stirred when I shook her gently.

"Wha?" Angel's voice was groggy with sleep and her eyes snapped open. She sat up and cried harder. I sat on the bed and smoothed her hair over.

"What's wrong?" Her skinny arms wrapped around my neck and I stiffened slightly at the new found contact, then I pulled her over to me and up onto my lap.

"I… I had… I had…a…a night m – mare." She hiccupped. I rubbed soothing circles on her warm back. She was sweating a little and she buried her head in my neck, tears soaking my shirt.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Angel pulled away from me a little and shivered. She rubbed her eyes and sniffled. "I dreamt that I was back in the care home. Only this time, it was even worse than in real life. In my dream, they kept me locked in a dog crate when I was bad and there were these horrible wolf things."

I pushed her blonde curls away from her sweating forehead and pulled her back to me as she cried a bit more. "I promise that will never happen. Sweetie, whatever went on there, you're safe now. Anne and Chris will look after you okay. You live with us now. Okay?" Angel's tears subsided and she nodded, lying back down in her bed. I stood up to leave when she spoke up again.

"Fang? Will you stay with me till I fall asleep? Please?" I froze and turned back to her. She looked so small, covered by the bed covers and three blankets. Guess that's what we had in common; we both feel the cold way too much.

I smiled gently at her and nodded, sitting back on her bed and stroking her hair every so often.

Eventually, her breathing slowed and she was mumbling to herself a little, smiling softly. I smiled and stood up slowly, careful not to wake her.

I crept back down the hallway and back into my bedroom, slipping into bed. I fell asleep instantly.

* * *

**Okay, so let's try get to 30 ish reviews. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Co wow guys, 35 reviews now. I'm honestly impressed. Thanks to all of you who are reading and reviewing. I'm glad you all liked the Fang/ Angel sweetness. They're my fave sibling pair.**

* * *

**_Max P.O.V_**

"Max! Come here a minute!" I groaned and rolled over on my bed. It was two o'clock on Saturday and I had spent the day practicing the, oh so productive, art of, wait for it… _sleeping_. I wondered how I had actually spent the entire day in my bed sleeping. I've never been that tired before. I sat up and pulled down my duvet covers. I had woken up at nine and got ready, however, somewhere between breakfast and homework, I had given up and fallen asleep for three hours. After I had fed myself lunch, I had gone straight back to bed. See, for those of you who don't know me, I actually have a very serious condition. Some people call it laziness. I prefer the term allergic to hard work. It actually exists, common in a lot of teenagers, so you can quit giving me those weird, disapproving looks.

"Maxi, mum wants to see you!" Ari's loud yell echoed through the door as he ran into my bedroom and jumped on my bed. I pushed him over and he scowled at me. "There was no need for that."

I shrugged. "You're annoying me."

Ari pouted and stood up, pulling on his hoodie zipper. "Whatever. Mum wants you." I smirked and wondered down the stairs. When I entered the kitchen, Mum was sitting at the table wearing a pair of, what can only be described as, Mum jeans and a simple red tank top. She had an apron on and her dark brunette hair was held up in a messy bun, some strands falling down over her face. She was hunched over a note book, calculator in hand. She scowled as she punched in some numbers.

"Problem?" I asked her as I took a seat next to her, leaning over to read the figure on the calculator.

"We're just a little behind on our savings. I went over the budget on our weekly shop what with Ari's new football gear he needed. I'll just have to grab a few extra hours at the clinic." Mum placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled gently. "Nothing we can't sort out. It just means you'll have to be more free than usual to help out with Ari and dare I say it, the cooking and cleaning." I grinned and poured a mug of coffee from the pot that was sitting in the centre of our table. When I reached for a leftover waffle from breakfast, Mum sighed. I looked up at her to see her frowning slightly.

"Would it kill you to eat some fruit? We've got more than enough to feed a family of twenty. Yet naturally, my privileged kids go for the limited snacks we have." I put the waffle back and grabbed an apple instead.

"I was eating leftovers. Hardly a privilege. Anyway, you wanted to see me?" Recognition dawned on mum's face and she grinned at me.

"Oh right! I was speaking to Anne earlier and she said her boy was having trouble in school. Particularly English and Chem. Which we all know is your… forte. So she asked if you would tutor Fang and I said yes!" The mouthful of coffee I was drinking spurted out of my mouth as I choked on it in horror.

"You what?!" I yelled, spluttering on coffee. Mum was scowling at the little puddle of coffee by my cup and reached out behind her, grabbed a towel and threw it to me.

"I said you would tutor Fang."

"I repeat: you what?!"

Mum rolled her eyes. "You're tutoring him."

"But whyyyyy?" I tried to keep the whine out of my voice but come on: this was Fang. Fang!

"Because, he's struggling. Think of it this way, extra credit…" I glared at her.

"I'm not doing it. Nope. No way. Absolutely not. Not doing it."

"Yes you are."

"Nope. Not gonna do it. He can fail for all I care. I'm. Not. Doing it."

Mum stared me down and wondered over to a little Tupperware box of chocolate chip cookies. She picked it up and walked over to standby the bin. I gasped.

"You wouldn't."

Mum cocked an eyebrow. "Try me."

I scowled and held her gaze. "You're bluffing. Hear this, mother dearest, I'm not doing it."

She raised her eyebrow higher, if that's possible, and stepped on the little peddle, thus opening the bin.

"_Try. Me_."

"You wouldn't dare. You're playing with me."

She pulled off the little green lid and threw it on the counter. "Wanna bet?"

I nodded. "Yep. I know you."

She tilted the box a little in the direction of the silver metal bin. "Skating on thin ice Maximum. Thin ice."

She tilted it a little lower.

Seconds ticked by, the sound of the clock echoing in our tense silence.

Again, the box tilted and a small, perfectly round cookie slid towards the bin, on the edge of the box.

I squinted my eyes shut and gasped. "Fine!" In an instant, my mum had shut the bin and placed the lid on the little tub. I ran towards her as she held it out to me, grabbing it from her and hugging it to my chest. "Fine, I'll do it. Just don't kill my babies."

She smirked and went back to her paperwork while I trudged upstairs and went back to bed.

* * *

**_Fang P.O.V_**

I smirked at Iggy as he reached for the phone held in my hand, above my head. He growled and reached up again. "Give. It. Back."

I shrugged. "Nope."

"Give it back!"

"I don't think so."

"Fang!"

"Gonna have to do better than that…"

Iggy glared at me as I stood up on my tiptoes. "I'll pay you."

"Hmmm, tempting." I tapped my chin thoughtfully.

"I'll give you a months' worth free coffee from Costa's… for a month. Months' worth, for a whole month." I rolled my eyes.

"Getting there."

"I'll be your slave for the week."

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" I pulled the phone to my ear. "Sorry Nudge, Iggy's busy right now. He'll call you back later." I spoke into the phone to Nudge, who Iggy had been on the phone to for the past 20 minutes.

"Busy! I'm not busy!"

"Yeah you are. You gotta go get my books from my locker. You know the combination. Oh and whilst you're there, get me a bottle of cola from the vending machine."

Iggy glared at me and went on his way. When he came back, he handed me a bottle of cola and my books.

"Actually, I think, as my slave, you should open this for me. Oh and you can carry my books to math." Once again, he glared at me and twisted the cap on the bottle. I chuckled and handed him my books.

"But I have Physics in the opposite direction."

"Walk fast."

* * *

I was on my way to lunch, after gym, walking across the field when what do you know, Sam and Dylan appeared beside me again. "What." I ground out when they smirked at me.

Sam motioned with his head towards the girl walking behind us. I turned my head and glared.

Max.

Whenever I was with these two, something went wrong.

She was wearing black skinny jeans with her uniform today, which is technically against the rules, and her trusty old combat boots. Her hair was covering her face and she had her school shirt untucked and a black hoodie over the top.

She walked past us quickly. But, just my luck, Sam's hand reaches out sharply and makes contact with, none other than, Max's arse. A loud smack.

She stops quickly and slowly turns her head, glaring at the three of us profoundly. She walked threateningly towards us and Sam retracted his hand.

When she reached us, she threw Sam against the brick wall. "Ever do that again, and I will surgically remove your tiny balls from your body… with a butter knife." Sam yelped and murmured an apology.

"Sorry…" Max let Sam go and with one last disgusted glare, stalked off into the cafeteria.

I glared at Sam and hurried into the cafeteria, greeting Iggy and sitting next to him with a thud.

"They are impossible. So is she." Iggy looked confused but didn't ask.

A second later, the sound of heavy footfalls made their way to our table and then stopped. Max's face popped into my peripheral vision.

"Meet me at five tomorrow, the library. And if you or your stupid A hole friends ever try something like that again, your life will not be worth living. So help me god." Before I could defend myself, Max marched away and sat at her table with Nudge.

Well great.

I could just sense how fun tomorrow would be. Please note my sarcasm.

Iggy looked at me and smirked. "I thought she hated you."

"She does. Your point."

"So you're meeting up with her?"

"Tutoring. Go get me a juice box."

"Fang!"

"You promised…"

Iggy pouted one last time, then stalked off to the vending machine outside the cafeteria. Leaving me to watch Max as she explained our entire situation to Nudge, gesturing wildly and angrily. I could make out a few words that were yelled during this.

_"Fucking. Stupid. Arrogant arse. Fucking dick! Hate him. Now. Tutoring. Why? Fucking jerk!"_ You can imagine what a self-esteem booster that is for me.

I knew I was a lot of things, but I draw the line at arrogant arse.

I stood up and grabbed my school bag. Nudge's eyes widened as she noticed me.

I slammed a hand down on their table and looked into Max's eyes.

"If you have a problem with me, then fine. But I would appreciate it if you didn't go broadcasting it about the school. You don't even know me, so what gives you the fucking right to judge me. Grow up, and get over yourself. You're not as special as you think you are. So you gotta tutor me, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting either. So grow up and we'll do this tutoring thing just fine… am I clear?"

Max looked surprised but composed herself quickly. I raised my eyebrows.

She nodded and glowered at me. "Crystal." With that said, I walked out of the cafeteria and went straight to my next class. Anything beat hanging out in there where I could see Max slamming me.

* * *

**Okay, so let's keep up with the amazing reviews.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys so I'm choosing to update again cause I'm in a good mood…again. I had an interview at my local college and it actually went okay. My future isn't looking _quite _as scary…**

* * *

**_Fang P.O.V_**

I walked in the fresh, cool air on my way to the library. It was nearing spring here and the weather was changing rapidly. Here in Redstone Lodge, you got the two extremities; summer is like living in a giant sauna, and winter is like living in a giant freezer. So now that spring was close, it was finally starting to warm up.

Today was one of the warmer days of early spring and I could actually walk outside without my coat. I halted quickly at the crossing and pressed the button, waiting. _And waiting._

**_And waiting. _**

Was it just me, or were people these days so rude? Is it so hard to stop for one second to let a fellow human being cross? Am I the only person who has this issue?

Finally, a nice old lady let me cross and I was on my way to the library where I was supposed to meet Max. Lord help us all…

The doors swung open and a cool air hit me from the fan placed next to the double doors. The librarian looked up at me, then looked back down to the pile of books on her desk. I took in my unfamiliar surroundings. The walls were painted a lightish blue. There was a flight of stairs at the back, just ahead of me and then two doors on either side of the entrance. I looked at the signs on the doors and noticed the one to my right was the children' section, the one on my left the adult and teen section. There was a large sign by the stairs telling me that the cafeteria and toilets were located up there. Pondering where Max wanted to meet, I made a snap decision and went into the adult and teen section.

I found Max sitting at her own table with a white laptop placed on the table in front of her. She had a few books either side of the laptop and she was sipping from a bottle of Dr. Pepper. It was different seeing her in normal clothes, considering I had only ever seen her in that plain white polo shirt and black skirt or trousers. She had opted for a pair of white denim skinny jeans and a blue tank top. I glanced down and noticed the black converse on her feet. They were caked in dirt and grass stains and the laces were frayed. She had tied her hair up in a high ponytail, sitting on the top of her head, sparing her side fringe. No make-up, as was usual for Max, and a simple pair of silver studs in her small ears. When had she had time to change? I had gone straight from school and yet she had still beat me here…

**_Why am I even paying attention to how she looks?_**

I didn't even like the girl…

Max finally looked up at me when I cleared my throat awkwardly. Her expression looked between a grimace and pain. Nice to know she cared enough to_ try_ and hide it.

I took a seat and motioned to her laptop.

"You know they have computers here right?"

She frowned. "WiFi's crazy slow. They need to sort it out. Plus, I hate those stupid mouse things. It's easier to have my laptop. So…. English… language first?"

I shrugged and pulled out my English language book from my bag. She let out a frustrated sound in the back of her throat.

When I looked at her, she simply glared and looked down at the book I was holding in my hands.

"So, where do we start?" I asked her, flipping the text book open to the contents page. Max looked back up at me and sipped her Dr Pepper again.

"The first question in the exam is always about how language is used effectively. So, I asked the head of English for some past papers. We can go through the first question today." I nodded and watched Max as she sifted through her bag, finally coming out with a small A5 booklet. "Okay, so read through this article and underline any key words. Trust me, I know it's kinda patronising, but it works."

I was shocked at how professional she was acting. I guess I had been expecting her to do this, all guns blazing. But no, she was actually helping me.

I read through some article about monster jellyfish in record time and began underlining the key words, like Max had told me to. When I was done, I looked at Max to see her breaking a cookie up in half. She took one of the halves and started breaking it up into little pieces. The other was left on the wrapper next to the small pieces of cookie. I cleared my throat and her head shot up.

Max took the paper from me and looked it over. She nodded and picked up a piece of cookie. "This is your reward. Every time you do something good, you get a piece. I figure you wouldn't mind being treated like a dog considering you act like an animal with those friends of yours…" She remarked snidely. Can I take back everything I ever said about her being professional?

My expression darkened. I chewed on the, now flavourless, chocolate chip cookie and looked back at Max expectantly.

"Okay, so you got the key words. How is the word…_slimezilla_ effective to the article?"

"It's a pun."

"And?"

"And it adds humour to a serious situation…"

"And?" Max pushed on. I simply shrugged.

"It dramatizes the entire thing. A pun on the film _'Godzilla'_ implies that these creatures are huge and scary monsters. You need to analyse it more. Then you'll be okay. So what does the word armada do?"

"It references to the Spanish fleet of ships…."

"Okay? And what does that do?"

I wracked my brain for ideas. "It... erm… it implies that there are a lot of them, cause the armada was a lot of ships. And it was war, so maybe it helps send off a sense of danger. Like, they are going to attack."

Max looked pleasantly surprised. "See, look what you can do when you put your mind to it. Now, try and write an answer in the booklet. Once you're done, we'll go over it together and see what to improve. Then we'll try one more question and then we can wrap up here."

I nodded and she handed me a biro. Sighing, I began to write my answer.

Twenty long, painful minutes later and I threw the pen down, clenching my fist to get rid of the growing cramp in my hand.

"Okay, so what you've done here, with the whole headline effectiveness is really good. Now you just need to link it to the text in the article. Say whether or not the headline agrees with the text. So the second question, is usually about a creative writing piece and how the writer uses persuasive techniques to add effect."

"There's way too many questions about language creating effect in these things."

"Probably cause it's an English _language _paper numbskull…" Max murmured monotonously. I scowled and read over the page she had turned over to.

After another half hour of torture, I was free to go home.

* * *

"How'd it go?" Anne asked me the minute I entered the house. No 'Hello' or 'How are you?' Nothing. Just, 'How'd it go?' And people wonder why I'm so heartless…

"Good." I shrugged and wondered on up the stairs.

"Dinner's in five!" Anne shouted up the stairs after me. I mumbled an okay and carried on into my bedroom. Max and I had agreed to meet at the library again on Saturday.

I changed into my black jeans and t – shirt and flipped my bed side lamp on. The door to my bedroom swung open and in walked Angel.

"Hi Fang! How was the torturing?" I snickered.

"Tutoring Ange, not torturing. It was… eventful. What's up?" Angel shrugged and came further into my room. She sat up on my bed with me and grinned.

"I just wanted to come and see you. Ella's busy doing homework and Gazzy said he was working on a new project. Why did his project involve a lighter and a small circle thing? And why did the little circle thing have loads of wires poking out?"

Oh god… he was working on one of _those_ projects.

"I wouldn't worry about it Ange. So what did you get up to today?"

Angel grinned sweetly at me again and laid down on my black covers. Her blonde hair contrasted with the black and fell around her face in soft curls. She held her knees to her chest and adjusted her pink skirt dungarees. "I played with my friend Ari! We played on the trim trail and then he fell down so Mrs Campbell had to help him and he got this massive cut on his knee! He wanted me to hug him so it got better but it was bleeding and I don't like blood... but I stayed with him until the end of lunch! So I didn't leave him. And he couldn't play so we sat and talked about everything! I told him that so far, you were my favourite brother I ever had and that Ella was in a draw for best sister!"

I raised my eyebrows.

"And… he told me that he only ever had one favourite sister cause he only had one! He said her name was Max, but I already knew that cause I met her the day I came here! She's nice, and pretty! Anyway, that was my day… What about you? What happened at school today?"

I shrugged and laid down next to the little girl. "I went to lessons and did school work. Then I had a break. Then more lessons. Then lunch. Then one more lesson. Then library. Then home." Angel giggled.

"I'm glad I'm not at your school yet! It sounds so boring! We did colouring today! Do you ever get to do colouring?"

I chuckled at her naivety. "Not really Ange. We do more writing than colouring." She frowned and pulled at a strand of her hair. The bed creaked slightly when she dropped her legs and stretched them in front of her. She was wearing one white sock and a small white, long sleeved shirt under her dungarees. Her cheeks were flushed and her blue eyes sparkled.

"That sounds boring…" I chuckled again and moved my hand to play with her soft curls. She grinned up at me again and laughed when I winked back.

"You're funny. I'm glad you're my brother."

Again, I felt that small stab of pain. I knew that she was referring to the fact that I was her foster brother. But I wanted so badly to tell her the truth.

But I couldn't. Because she didn't remember me and if I did, there would probably be consequences. I didn't want to do anything that would upset her.

"Dinner!" Startled, I jumped up off my bed when Anne called up the stairs. Angel stood up on my bed and wiggled her skinny arms out in front of her. She smiled angelically at me and wiggled her fingers again. I sighed, feeling amused, and held my arms out too. Within a second, she was jumping off the bed and into my arms. Her small legs wrapped around my waist and she laughed happily into my hair, where she was resting her head on my shoulder.

I trudged down the stairs, careful not to drop the small, petite girl I held in my arms, and set her down on the floor when we entered the kitchen. Anne let out an amused chuckle and Ella was smiling fondly at us. Angel skipped over to the table and took one of the two spare seats. She patted the empty spot next to her and looked at me pointedly.

I smirked and sat, helping myself to pizza when I was seated.

"So, Nick, how's the team?" Chris began our usual tea time conversation.

"I told you, I quit the football team." Chris froze around a bit of pizza.

"Well maybe it's time you unquit."

"Not a word…" I mumbled around a mouthful of spicy pizza. Chris didn't hear. "I'd rather not associate with those people again…"

Chris and Anne shared a glance. Anne spoke this time. "Dylan and Sam are very nice boys. And you loved football."

"Yeah well, things change. It's not my thing anymore."

"I'm not buying it." Chris raised his voice and matched my tone. I looked around the table. Angel's eyes were wide with worry. Gazzy was looking at his plate, furiously cutting at his slice of pizza. Ella was cutting up Angel's potatoes from the other side of Angel. And Anne was nervously biting her lip.

"What's not to buy? I gave it up. And I'm not joining the team again."

Chris growled. "You're joining again son. You will be on the football team even if it kills you. This was our plan Nick, you get a football scholarship, and then you got nothing to worry about. You're good Nick. And what happens if you don't get the grades you need? You'll be a high school drop out with no qualifications, working minimum wage in whatever dead end job." Chris finished and everyone at the table gasped. Nobody could ignore that.

"Well I'd rather work for minimum wage than be in a job where I'm not happy. Honestly, all you ever do is work, come home and take it out on us, then do it all over again."

Chris's glare darkened. "You need to think about the future. You need a back-up plan. Football is your back-up." I sighed exasperatedly and took a bite of the pizza.

"Why?"

"Because I said so. If you expect to stay here and eat our food and sleep in our home, then you'll do as I damn well say!"

I groaned internally. What was I supposed to do? _Back down just because he said so._

I knew the answer to that and I certainly didn't like it. But I had to do it if I wanted to stay with Angel.

"Fine. I'll go ask coach about it tomorrow."

Chris smirked and went back to his dinner.

Underneath the table, Angel's shaking hand found my own. I looked at her and smiled, reassuring my baby sister.

_Now I really couldn't wait to get out of this place._

_And maybe, when I go, I'll take Angel with me._

* * *

**Okay, so well done with all the reviews guys. Let's try get to 40 or more this time.**

**One question for you all:**

**I was with my friend the other day and we were talking about food. She asked me if I'd rather eat a chocolate cake, or a warm, gooey, chocolate brownie. Now I'm gonna get a lot of haters for this but…**

**Naturally, I don't like cake. So I said brownie. And we have now posed; _the cake issue._**

**Cake is just too dry.**

**So would you rather have cake or a yummy, scrummy, gooey, chocolaty, warm out of the oven brownie?**

**I think we all know what side I'm going with :D**

**On a completely unrelated topic though: anyone here watch pretty little liars? Just cause, I am one obsessed fan.**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Fang P.O.V**_

"Gazzy! Quit it!" Ella's shrill squeal woke me from a deep sleep on Friday morning. I checked my phone for the time and rolled over in bed, pulling my covers over me and settling down for sleep again. It was only 6:00, I could afford to sleep in an extra hour.

I groaned out of protest when the squeal came again. "Gazzy! Get off me! I'm gonna get Chris! Stop it" Grumbling profanities, I shot out of bed and stumbled into Ella's bedroom.

Gazzy was jumping on Ella, snarling angrily. Ella was pushing his head away from her, screeching hoarsely at him to stop.

"What the hell is going on?" My voice was deathly low, a deep sound from my throat. Gazzy and Ella froze and Angel sat up in bed, wide eyes threatening to drift shut again. Gazzy shifted and jumped off of Ella, muttering something incoherently.

"What was that Gaz?" I asked the eight year old, closing the door quietly, so as not to wake Anne or Chris. If Ella's caterwauling hadn't already. Gazzy hung his head and Ella sat up, pulling on her covers.

"Ella stole my lighter."

I snorted. "Where did you get a lighter from?"

Gazzy gave me a pointed stare. "Anne and Chris keep a little tin dedicated to lighters. I took one from there…." He looked shameful as he confessed and played with the drawstring on his pyjama pants.

"Why do you need a lighter?"

"For my project…"

"The one you were working on the other day!" Angel piped up, smiling proudly. I smiled back fondly and turned my gaze to Gazzy one again.

"What project?" My jaw was aching from the stiff set and gritted teeth.

"The bomb I was working on…" Great, just great. Another messed up kid in this family. I thought I was screwed up enough for all of us merry band of foster kids.

Clearly not.

"What bomb Gaz?" I pushed on, turning my attention away from the fact that it was six fifteen in the fucking morning. Gazzy looked up at me apologetically.

"Iggy's been teaching me how to make bombs…"

I recoiled, shocked that my best friend would teach my little brother something so dangerous.

"Right." I ground out.

One thing was for sure, Iggy was going to get it later.

* * *

"You're teaching him to fucking make bombs!" I growled that morning as I slammed Iggy into the lockers. He looked confused and shook his head vigorously.

"No. Not… really. Well, yes but… but not like, properly. It's just… like, well, just…"

"Spit it out!"

"I'm only teaching him the basics. He wanted to know how to protect himself."

"What?" Iggy shut his mouth, his lips drawn tightly. I pushed my forearm further into his pale neck. "Tell me, or I promise, I will make this hell for you."

"I promised I wouldn't say anything…!"

"Fucking tell me! This is my brother I'm talking about here." Iggy shivered and glared at me.

"Get off me Fang. I'm not one of those arse holes you can push around. Gazzy told me this in confidence. I'm not about to break his trust. Now, get the hell off me." I pushed my arm a little deeper before sighing and letting go.

"Fine, but if he ends up getting hurt, I will kill you…." I threatened, pulling a hand through my black hair. Iggy fixed his own strawberry blonde hair and nodded. He stuck out his fist.

"We cool?" I nodded sharply, tapping his fist with my own.

"Yeah. We're cool."

I would find out what was up with Gazzy, even if it killed me.

* * *

"So man, wanna come over to mine tomorrow." I shook my head.

"I can't Ig, I got more fucking tutoring with Max." Iggy laughed.

"Sucks to be you man, sucks to be you… It's cool, I'll ask Nudge if she wants to go out. Or stay in, if you know what I mean…" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Iggy, if that girl has _any_ common sense, you're never getting laid. Besides, isn't she supposed to be _the one_?" Iggy nodded at me, letting my comment slide.

"You're point?"

"My point, is that if she's not just one of _those_ girls, you should respect her."

Iggy nodded. "I do respect her. She's just too tempting sometimes. Like the other day, we were kissing on her couch, and I mean _really_ kissing. Like, _hello sexy_ kissing. Things were seriously getting interesting."

"And?"

"And her mum got home early from work. I'm too old to be getting the talk Fang. Way too old."

I smirked and clapped my friend on the back. No matter how annoying he was, he always made me feel a little less frustrated and a little more relaxed. A hard thing to do where I'm concerned.

I grabbed a tray from the stand in the cafeteria and picked up a plate of the day's special: chicken curry. This was the only meal here that made me not want to barf my guts up. Things are looking up! Wow, my sarcasm is astonishing…. Iggy popped the cap on a bottle of chocolate milkshake and gulped it down in 10 seconds flat.

"You do realise, you have to pay for that."

Iggy glowered at me. "_Duh." _

After I had my lunch, I made my over to a table, Iggy trailing behind me. Iggy spotted Nudge just in front of us, sitting at a table talking to Max. She made a series of consecutive gestures and Max stood up, coming our way. Iggy yelped in my ear and waved frantically to Nudge. She noticed and waved back.

Which was precisely where it all went wrong.

Iggy yelped again and started trying to get me to hurry up, to get to Nudge faster. He pushed me over and over and the tray I was holding shook a little.

Now here's where it went _really _wrong.

_I saw it coming. From the minute Iggy pushed me a little too hard to the minute Max stopped in front of me, trying to squeeze through the narrow gap between me and a table. _

_I lost control of the tray of curry and it went flying. Straight into Max. Chicken curry slopped down her white school shirt and dripped downwards. It was coating the ends of her blonde hair and even splattered up to her chin. She froze and I swear, time stopped._

The cafeteria was silent and everyone was watching the scene in front of them.

"You. Fucking. Arsehole." Max ground out, wiping curry from her chin.

"Max I-"Max held out a curry coated hand.

"Don't even bother. I can't believe you. Off all the things…. You fucking prick! You totally did this on purpose!"

I shook my head. "No Max, I swear-"

"Shut up! Just… ugh! I can't even… you're a dick. A real, fucking dick. I hate you!"

She stormed out of the cafeteria before I could explain myself. I ran out after her to find her standing by her locker, inspecting the damage.

"Max, please. I have a spare t- shirt in my locker. Let me get it for you… please."

She shook her head. I opened up my locker, a few down from her own and pulled out a simple black t-shirt with a Mayday Parade logo. She smirked at the band name but shook her head again.

"I don't need your help. Fuck off." I threw the shirt at her. You know what she did?

_The stubborn bitch threw it back._

"Quit being so stubborn, it's not like I'm giving you a thousand pounds… it's just a shirt. I have plenty others at home." Max glowered at me before snatching the shirt from my grasp. A second later, she disappeared into the girls' toilets. I stood and waited, foot propped against the lockers and arms crossed.

The bathroom door swung open and out popped Max, white stained shirt in hand, anger evident on her beautiful face. She looked better in the shirt than I ever had. It went perfectly with her against the rules black skinny jeans and combat boots. Her shoulder bag was stained a little with the curry and she was glaring at me.

"Thanks a bunch, nimrod." I glared and pushed off from the lockers so she could put her shirt away.

"No problem, grouch." Max scowled one last time before wondering off to god knows where, dragging her feet angrily.

Okay, so even though I wasn't supposed to like her, I couldn't help it.

_I felt really guilty._

* * *

Okay guys, let's get to 45 reviews and I'll update by this Wednesday. Although, bear in mind I have a full week of tests so I'm gonna spend most of my week revising. I need you guys to motivate me for that. I'm actually pretty scared for these tests now that I think about it. _Shit… _

Anywho, motivate me guys, 45 reviews would make my week.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys so well done again on the reviews! You're all awesome. As promised, I'm updating again. I'm taking a break from revision to type this up for you all :D On another note, me being me, said in an earlier chapter that JJ was Fang's other foster sibling but I completely forgot about that *mental face palm* so let's just say that she's not in this story yet. No relation to Fang what so ever.**

* * *

**_Max P.O.V (you guys should recognise the first bit of layout from a previous chapter) _**

"I'm telling you Max, I'm right."

"No, you're delusional." I muttered to Nudge on our way to English with Mrs Jacobs.

"You like him. That's why you act like you hate him. To spare your feelings.""

"Nudge," I began. "This is not one of those Katie Haygon movies.

"Katherine Heigl Max, not Katie Haygon. God, do you know anything. Katherine Heigl_, 'The Ugly Truth'. _They start off hating each other, only to learn they actually love each other. Totally you and Fang Walker. I shook my head.

"No Nudge. The only feelings I have towards Fang, are that of hate and repulsion." Nudge shook her head in defeat and walked into our English room, taking her seat at our table.

"Alright…" Mrs Jacobs began as she rushed into the classroom. Her dark hair was flying behind her, minus the few strands she had delicately pinned at the back, half up half down. She was wearing a red blouse and her usual black pencil skirt. Mrs Jacobs was always professional in the way she dressed. "Afternoon guys, let's start with the register." She said, breathless.

I pulled out my English exercise book and a plain black biro and threw my head in my arms on the desk.

"Max?"

"Hmmm?" I lifted my head from my arms to see the entire English class staring at me. Mrs Jacobs was looking at me expectantly. "Oh, yeah. Here." Mrs Jacobs smiled a little and shook her head.

"I said, that shirt is not school uniform." Internally, I groaned. Crap.

"Well, you see, I had a slight _accident._" I ground out, staring pointedly at none other than Fang, sitting directly in front of me at the table by the door. He turned and frowned at me. Now do my eyes deceive me, or was that a hint of guilt I just saw? He quickly looked back at his desk and I growled. Mrs Jacobs chuckled.

"Oh no, what happened?" Mrs Jacobs was nothing if not nosy. It was another reason she was one of my favourite teachers. She always acted like one of the students here.

"Well, I was walking through the cafeteria to buy another drink, when some _klutz _tripped and spilt his lunch all down my shirt."

Mrs Jacobs gasped and tried to look sympathetic, smothering a smile. I sighed. Once she had controlled herself, she spoke up again calmly.

"Okay, so I'm gonna get a lot of haters for this. But today, we're going to be doing a past paper. Don't worry, it's not a test. It doesn't count towards anything."

The whole class groaned. Mrs Jacobs smiled evilly.

"Suck it up. I'll make a deal. You do this assessment without complaining and after, I'll let you all chill out for the end of the lesson."

"You just said it wasn't a test!" I exclaimed. Mrs Jacobs smirked.

"I did? Well… I lied. It's kind of a test. Only it really doesn't count to towards your overall grade. So you can have an hour to do this and then the last fifteen minutes can be your own thing. Whatever you want to do."

She handed out the papers and let us get started. Halfway through the first question, I heard a discreet sound.

"Pssst…" I looked up to see Fang had tilted his head a little to look at me. I glared and gestured for him to turn back to his work. What did he think he was doing?

"Psssst…" I looked up again and Fang was gesturing wildly to me, every once in a while turning to see if Mrs Jacobs was looking. She was sitting at her desk reading a book.

"Psssst!" I ignored him this time and continued on with my work. I heard a small, exasperated sigh and flicked my eyes up to see him looking down at his paper.

Twenty minutes later and a small piece of paper landed on my desk. I ignored it and left it sitting pitifully at the edge of my desk.

"Psssssssssssst!" I snapped my head up, growling in my throat. Fang's eyes were wide and he was tearing a small bit of paper. Nudge snickered a little and I noticed her smirking at Fang and I's exchange across the table from me.

I glared and looked back at my work. Again, not two seconds later, a small bit of paper landed on my work. I flicked it to the side and as soon as I did, another piece of plain white, crumpled paper was sitting on my booklet. I sighed and picked it up, unfolding it gently.

**_I'm really sorry._**

I scoffed, scribbled a quick note back and crumpled it up again, throwing it back to Fang. It hit him in the back of his head and he looked up alarmed, reached down and picked up the fallen rubbish. He unfolded it in haste and I saw his head drop a little as he read my reply.

**_Fuck off Fang. _**

Not another minute later, another piece of folded up paper landed on my desk again. This guy was relentless.

**_Please. Hear me out. You've got me all wrong._**

Suddenly, two manicured fingers were tugging the piece of paper from my hands and I glanced up to see Mrs Jacobs looking at me and Fang, holding my discarded notes in her hands, looking insanely disappointed.

"Cheating is not acceptable in my class, Max, Nick."

"No… I-"

"No excuses Maximum. You two, go to the head master's office. Now. I'll deal with you both later."

"But-"

"Now!"

I stood up furiously and stormed out of the classroom, Fang trailing behind me. He caught up with me and smiled sheepishly.

"Soooo?"

"This is all your fault!" I hissed. "I actually hate you!"

"Max. Come on now. I was just trying to apologise."

I swung around and shoved him, hard. "By throwing notes in the middle of a test! How stupid can you be?!"

"Max! Please-"

"Just walk. Let's hope we can get off with a warning. I swear to god, if I fail that test and get into some real trouble, I will bring you a world of hurt!" Fang threw me an apologetic look and simply walked on. We entered the small reception area and Miss Dwyer looked up, flicking her shiny hair behind her ear.

"What do you need?" She asked Fang and I, smiling widely.

Fang stepped forward. "We were told to come see Mr Whitman."

"For?" Miss Dwyer questioned Fang.

He sighed and glanced at me. "He'll be expecting us."

Miss Dwyer gestured to a few chairs lined up next to the wall by the door we had come from. "Take a seat. He'll be with you in a minute."

We sat down in two of the chairs next to each other and I scowled furiously at my lap. I couldn't believe this was happening. I had never, ever cheated in my life! And I wasn't about to start. Could this day get any worse?

"I really am sorry Max."

"Whatever."

"Please, I just wanna know. Why do you hate me so much?"

I spun around to gape at the ashamed boy sitting next to me. He was fiddling with the zipper on his black leather jacket that he had decided to put on once he had sat down. I watched as his long, tanned fingers pulled it up and down rapidly.

"Hate you! Why do I hate you?! Let's see, you're friends, along with the majority of the male population at this school, are sexist dicks. Now if you didn't at least share something in common with them, why would you associate with them? So that makes you a sexist dick too. You decided to 'trip' and spill curry all down my uniform! Curry stains you moron! And then, you get me caught 'cheating'! What part of that do you think is okay? Huh?"

Fang recoiled at my sudden burst of anger and dropped the metal zipper he had been previously holding onto. "I really am sorry. Please, just let me explain."

I glared daggers at him. "I don't think so."

Before he could say anything else, Mr Whitman's grey haired head popped out of his office. "Maximum Ride? Nicholas Walker?" I stood silently and Fang copied. Mr Whitman held the door open for us and we sat at his desk, opposite the head of the school himself. I took in the bare walls, mind the school posters and shelves, consisting of trophies from football matches the team had won and certificates the school had received from the annual inspection. The short, grey haired man in front of me clasped his hands on his desk and sighed.

"I never thought I'd see you in here for cheating Max. Never." He sounded genuinely disappointed and it broke my heart. How could I disappoint people? It just wasn't what I did. I was the smart one. The one who cared about my grades and my future. "I've seen you for many things Max, uniform, and tardiness and so on, but never cheating. And why English? That's your best subject. And Nicholas, I never thought I'd see you in here for anything like this either? I know, it wasn't a real exam or anything, but that does not make this okay. Explain yourselves. Now."

"Well I-"

"I was trying-"

Fang and I spoke up at the same time. A glare from me soon shut him up.

"Fang spilt his lunch on me earlier and I was pretty pissed."

"Language Max."

"Sorry, Fang spilt his lunch _over _me earlier and I was _very _pissed-"

"Not helping your case here Max." Mr Whitman sounded exasperated.

"Sorry. So I was very angry that he spilt his lunch on me and he wanted to apologise. So in the middle of a test, this _moron_ had the bright idea to throw notes to me. Thus, this whole misunderstanding." I spat.

"Nick?"

Fang's voice was indignant as he tried to get us in the clear. "I swear, we weren't cheating. I felt really guilty and I didn't think. This is all my fault."

Mr Whitman sighed and looked at the two of us, sitting side by side. Me with my fists clenched, nails almost breaking skin, Fang with his hands casually sitting in his lap.

"Okay, so since this is your first time being accused of anything like this, I'll let you both off with a warning. But I don't want to see either of you back in my office for another month. Stick to that, and we'll forget about this little…situation."

"You mean it won't go on my permanent record?" I was insanely hopeful.

Mr Whitman nodded. "A month. Agreed."

I nodded quickly. "Agreed. Thank you so much sir!" Fang nodded and we were excused.

"So, that went well." Fang tried.

I glowered at him. "What the hell was that? _'It was all my fault.'" _

Fang looked surprisingly shocked. "I was trying to help you!"

"I don't need your help!" I fumed, clenching and unclenching my fists.

"First, you're mad because I get us into this mess. Then you're mad cause I got you out of it. Make up your fucking mind!"

"You did not get us out of this! I did!"

"Nu – uh!"

_"Yeah- uh!"_

_"No you didn't!"_

"Whatever Fang! Just leave me alone. I'll see you on Saturday for tutoring."

Fang scowled at me and stormed out of the reception, black boots thudding against the hard hallway floor angrily.

**_Sorry Fang, some days you just can't win._**

* * *

Okay, let's try for 55 reviews :D I'll hopefully update Friday or Saturday.


End file.
